Black As Phoebe
by Wicked R
Summary: AU. At the middle of “A Witch’s Tale, part 2,” Cole decides to leave, and he’ll go back in time to prevent himself from ever becoming fully human. Conventional pairings with a short ColePiper interlude.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Black As Phoebe  
Author: Wicked R  
Disclaimers: characters and the universe belongs to the WB.

Rating: R

Genre: Angst/Romance

Summary/Set: AU. At the middle of "A Witch's Tale, part 2," Cole decides to leave, and he'll go back in time to prevent himself from ever becoming fully human. Conventional pairings with a short Cole/Piper interlude.

Darryl stood up from Cole's glass table and sighed, taking a few steps towards the fire place, where the demon was staring at one of the many pictures of him and Phoebe in the penthouse, "I know you don't want to. But what you want really doesn't matter. Right?"

Cole looked back at the police investigator intently as he considered his words. There was only one way that he could truly answer that, "right...you know, there were times she took into account what I wanted."

"That was in the past."

"In the past! Yes! You're a genius!" He started pacing.

"Why? What did I say?" Darryl followed him apprehensively, "what are you gonna do?"

"Go back in time. Before I became human. That was the thing that spoiled it all."

"How are you gonna do that?"

"I used to move through different planes all the time. It's how I've been hiding from the Source for a while. And I took Prue back in time once. Shouldn't be any problem to shimmer into any plane I want to, even if I didn't use that skill for a long time. I shouldn't be too much off the mark. It's practically the same ability that helped me out of the wasteland, so…so long. Thank you."

Darryl stood there contemplating phoning Phoebe right away. But then again, what was the point? If Cole was going to change something in the past, that had already happened, cause it was the past, right?

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Cole solidified himself after a difficult shimmer, that even made him dizzy and unsure of his rusty abilities to home in on the Phoebe of the past. He found himself in open air, and the rain was soaking his hair. He had to strain his eyes to be able to see through the thick downpour. He was in front of a fortress, that was undeniable. An imposing turret, well kept, but somewhat gloomy.

"My liege! Thank Devil, you're here!" He turned to see a demon with green triangle tribal markings, "we were worried about you! You're wife has already sent out dozens of demons to the underworld to find you," a big wooden door opened, creaking, when he waved a hand, leading him inside.

Guards and demons saluted him as the other demon led him up the oak staircase and down a long corridor, then stopped before a corner, "your chambers have been prepared, my liege."

Cole turned to find himself in an outsized room with a vaulted plaster ceiling supported by ancient granite and marble columns just like in a pagan temple, with moonlight coming through the small shutters, making him wonder what century he landed himself into. His eyes fell upon a slender woman, who's long, curly, black hair twinkled in the candlelight.

Phoebe was wearing a pink gown, hiked up and tucked in the waist to show the underskirts. The skirts of gown were very full, with multiple petticoats underneath and padded out at the hips with a bum roll. From her clothing, it must've been around the fourteenth, fifteenth century, even the sixteenth, Cole didn't know as he wasn't all that good at medieval history. He wasn't just a little off the mark after all in his shimmer, cause this was the reincarnation of a bygone Phoebe.

She ran towards him, and when she was close, she stopped short in front of him and gave him the mother of all slaps in the face, "Coleridge! Where have you been? Somebody reported back you had a round with a latest seer of the underworld! Am I not enough of an oracle for you?" She stopped talking and turned away, walking towards the table with various herbs and potions on it.

"Uh…" Cole steadied himself leaning onto a pillar, and assessed the inside and outside damage to his face with his fingers and tongue, "you don't understand…" He spit out some blood, looking for a hanky in his pocket to press on his bottom lip to try to stop it from bleeding.

"But I forgive you cause you at least sent back the talisman I asked you to steal with the messenger. You should consider killing the bastard, because he reported your unfaithfulness too. Most important is that the talisman will protect us from good witches before we can steal their powers."

"Whaa?" Cole responded as loudly as he could with half of his face still numb.

"You're done a good job, baby," Phoebe ran towards him again, making him straighten up and step back in defence, ready to dodge out her way. This time, she jumped into his neck, making his back smash into the pillar behind him. Her mouth moved to his injured lip and her teeth tore into it.

Cole let out a muffled roar with the sensation of the initial pinch, but his lip became numb again when she started sucking.

"Ummhmm, yum," Phoebe released him, let her head back and exhaled noisily, "demonic blood…oh, the taste, the power…" She looked back up, as he didn't start kissing her neckline as usual, "how come that punch wasn't enough to let Belthazor out? Come on, rip these clothes apart already!"

"What…what about the talisman? Where did you put it?" Cole tried everything to let all this madness from happening.

"Think more about that later," she drew him close, embracing him a bit more softly, "I missed you. You want a gentle one this time?" She tugged him along to the bed, then left him for a second to pick up some liquid from the table, from which she put some drops on her finger and tenderly massaged it onto his tender lip. It didn't hurt him, it didn't even sting, but th wound closed immediately. Then she pushed him down to lie on the large velvet cushions, "you just watch," she pulled her ribbons holding her dress together…"

Tbc


	2. In The Wrong

Chapter 2: In The Wrong

Cole woke up to the high pitch of a baby crying. He pulled the curtains of the baldachin bed to witness Phoebe trying to put some yellow liquid down a naked newborn's throat, with the skin still covered in the white slime of the intrauterine fluids, "what is going on?" He jumped up, taking the bed sheet with him.

"You just go back and sleep, darling. I'll deal with this one. You must still be tired from fighting the Daevas for the talisman. I can tell that, the way your vigour was missing when you acclaimed me back."

"Please, don't kill her!" A woman burst in, with her skirt bloody with a couple of guards after her, that pummelled her down onto the ground.

Phoebe strolled towards her with the child screaming in her hands, then launched the bundle into the air, for the unfortunate young woman to catch, which she managed even in her anguish, "if I killed all the peasants, who would work the fields," she sneered at her, "I just bound her powers. Too many good witches were born around here in the last centuries. I need to make sure that none of you becomes one, don't I? Throw them out," she waved to the guards, "why don't you rest, my other half?" She turned towards Cole.

"I…can't," Cole admitted an absolute truth, but not the reason, and gathered his clothes.

"You don't look well. Maybe I should make a potion to help you relax."

"No, I'm just…dazed, a bit," Cole acknowledged a half truth, but again, not the grounds for it. Whoever this was, it looked like Phoebe, but that was all. It was time to find out some more about this one, and their relationship. It was obvious, that she loved him here, even if in a possessive way. But who were they, what were their positions in society? "It would probably help me if we did some work instead," he continued, "the quicker we achieve our goal, the better I will feel."

"Hungry for the kill, huh?" She waved her hand and a tiny, delicate looking statue

with fine features embedded in a flat egg-shaped yellowish-brown talisman, size of a finger became visible on the table. It was always there, it was only made undetectable by some illusion. Phoebe took it by its chain and placed it around her neck, "I located a witch about four miles north from Bruges, on a farm. Her powers are escalating, so we should deal with her as soon as possible. Can you feel her presence? Can you shimmer us?"

"I think so…" Cole took her by hand unsurely, and transported them to an old  
cottage in a dense grove of trees. The dwelling must have been pleasing once, but now it was crumbling in disrepair and overrun with wild flowers. The garden nevertheless, was growing a wide range of plants in orderly rows. In it, a brown, long haired woman was watering her vegetables, gently pushing a grey rabbit out of the way with her leg, not to harvest the plant too early. She noticed their shimmer and raised her hands, forcefully waving them in the air in Phoebe's direction.

"Oversight, witch," Phoebe levitated up towards her, knocking her over and landing on the good witch's chest, "you can't blow us up. We're protected. But you're not!" She swayed her finger a little until a spiky stiletto materialised in it and raised in above her heart, forcefully slashing downwards.

"What are you doing?" Cole seized her hand with the weapon in his.

"We need her insides for the potion to assimilate her powers. Why? What do you have in mind? You wanna play with her first?"

"That would be nice," Cole kissed his wife, then pulled her towards himself.

"I got her for the time being," he told the good witch, "Piper, call for Leo. Now!"

"Who's Leo?" Piper of this reality and time scrambled to her feet.

"You know this slut?" Phoebe struggled against his hold on her wrists, "I was also informed that you were sleeping with a witch, but I vanquished the demons for lying to me. I thought you would never do that!"

"You don't know who Leo is?" Cole ignored his significant other, giving her a push and grabbing Piper instead. He shimmered her away, no matter where, just away from his raging malicious wife.

tbc


	3. Bring It On

Chapter 3: Bring It On

They found themselves in a narrow valley with a river running through it. Piper didn't push herself away from Cole, on the contrary, she held onto him affectionately and looked up at him dotingly, "I'm sorry you finally had to choose sides. But don't worry, the covet will understand and accept you even if you're a demon if I explain to them that you saved me from evil witch Duchess of Normandy," she planted a quick kiss on the lips of a mesmerised Cole, then let him go and continued, "but we must hurry now. You know as well, that if you won't wanna be summoned back by her, I need to find some aromatic plants and quickly? We left her practically in the middle of witch paradise for potions. Wait here," she ran towards the bushes nearby, "and keep an eye out for blessed thistles over there next to the stream!"

Piper's pretty independent here too, Cole looked after her as she disappeared amongst the undergrowth of the dense forest, and not at all confused by the divide between good and evil. But this war against Phoebe was definitely not why he came back for. This was all wrong. Perhaps he should attempt to shimmer back to his own time, leaving the future sisters to sort out amongst themselves as they normally would have without his intervention. The Cole of this reality probably died fighting those Daevas, or whatever Phoebe had mentioned, before he had to choose a side between his wife and his good witch lover. He concentrated to remember his Phoebe, every detail of her face as she smiled at him next to the Golden Gate, hoping it will help with the aim of his time shimmer. Yes of course, most demons didn't attempt this, cause it could get messy, but he was always more confident than the rest. Until Phoebe…"ghhhhh" he called out in agony as he doubled over from the pain in his guts. His face took an expression of puzzlement, as he didn't comprehend why he felt terrible. Then he passed out.

--------------

Cole heard the sound of birds chirping and leaves rustling and slowly opened his eyes to find himself under the shade of a tree. He felt very tired, but that was all, so he pushed himself up on his elbows, frowning as the pain in his gut returned.

"Easy," Piper towered above him, then knelt down to help him lay back, "I managed to stop the Duchess from summoning you, but I believe she uses a voodoo doll on you. I made some medicine to ease the pain, but it needs some time to start working better," she stroked his hair, "would you like some water?" She picked up a large leaf, expertly twisted into the shape of a cup, and raised his head to it. The slight movement aggravated his belly after just a few sips and he gave a whining sound, so Piper let him lie back once again, "you'll need more belladonna for the pain," she wiped his face from the sweat with one of the under layers of her skirt, "I'll make you better, don't you worry. I'll not be long," she kissed his forehead and charged out of view. He closed his eyes to shut out the pain. It didn't work as it continued to course through him without stopping. He clenched his jaw and clutched the grass beneath his hands, very much hoping Piper is a first-class witch in this world too. Otherwise he would never see his real life wife again.

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Somebody slid an arm gently under his shoulders and elevated him again, "drink."

The fluid felt hot, going down his throat, and the warmness spread inside him, taking away the pain.

When he finished, Piper started to study him, "how do you feel?"

"I don't know," he opened his eyes. Although the throbbing from his torso was momentarily gone, he was afraid he would aggravate it again if he shifted.

"Well, you should try and get up," his mistress offered a hand, "come on, trust me and my potion making abilities."

Slowly moving, he got to his feet, looking around in a landscape that showed no signs of human life, apart from the witch in front of her, "how did I get here?"

"You don't remember? It can't be. You shimmered us away from the Duchess."

"Ah, no," Cole shook his head slightly, "take it as if it was a rhetorical question," he couldn't tell her he meant the era.

"Because you proved your love for me," she caressed his cheek, misunderstanding the question once again, "you choose good, Cole and I love you for it. I loved you the first time you shimmered in taking the victims of your wife for me to heal. There's nothing you should be ashamed of, or regret, even if we die tonight. We did our best to serve humanity. But we should go. I don't know how long the effect of the brew will last. We need to vanquish your wife before she would use the voodoo doll again. Shimmer us right behind her and grab the talisman from her neck. I'll be there to help you, but I can't touch that, you know that. It would rebuff me right away."

Cole leaned on Piper, as if embracing her for the shimmer, trying to ignore the pain that was cursing through his torso, even if at a lesser level than before, "let's go."

They didn't even solidify yet, when they heard Phoebe's giggles and they were both thrown to the wall, to finish materialising there.

Phoebe sat down graciously on her bed, "I got a premonition, my dears. How could you think I wouldn't get one? The devil favours me. You can have all the potions in the world, you can't vanquish me while I have this lucky charm you were so nice to get for me," she stared at Cole as he started to get up. She could tell he was in pain, and she took pleasure in it, slowly moaning and touching herself under her skirt as she watched. But Cole seemed to shake it off, closing in on her, "come back to me Coleridge. I forgive you and I play the voodoo game with somebody else. You know I would've never hurt you if you didn't get me jealous. You don't need to get me invidious. Don't you know I have a weakness for you, darling?"

"I can't."

"But why? I can give you all the witch could, and more."

"Exactly because of that. You can offer me more pleasure, more belongings because you're evil. I can't watch you torture all those people."

"As you wish," she took out a needle from the creases of her skirt, along with a little wooden doll, pressed it in it and looked back up at Cole to benefit from the effect her black magic caused.

Suddenly, agony struck him in his abdomen, same place as the needle was stabbed into the doll. Cole doubled over, but still focused on trying to reach his wife and snatch the talisman from her neck. He tried to get up, but the throbbing drove him

down onto his knees and overloaded his eyes with tears. He looked back to his accomplice, who herself managed to stand up.

Piper knew her plan was suicidal, but then again, her whole existence was in this cruel world. She discerned the pleading for help in her lover's eyes and she launched herself at the evil witch, knowing her own powers still had no chance. But neither did Cole's at the moment. As Phoebe held out a hand to toss her away and fling her back to the wall, she concentrated her powers at the talisman instead, making it blow up and shatter to pieces, the same time as her own skull did the same as Phoebe maximised the force she sent her flying with, angry for Piper's success in ridding her of her most valuable possession.

"No," Cole choked. His anger helped him to his feet and his bulky fire ball engulfed Phoebe before she could touch the doll again. The effect of her magic vanquished with her, Cole ran to Piper. With the amount of blood already on the floor, he gave up his first thought of resuscitation.

Suddenly, white orbs appeared next to her, and a man in a doublet, jerkin, and hose appeared. He didn't waste time, but got rid out his cloak and hat, putting his hands above the injury on Piper's head.

"Oh, Leo! Piper said she didn't know you."

"That doesn't mean we don't keep an eye on things up there. I don't understand your reasons, but I assure you, your deeds will be reported to the Elders. One day they will pay you back for your kindness," his hands started glowing.

"I doubt it," Cole laughed. He needed to go somewhere to gather his thoughts and powers into the right direction. He really had enough of this century, besides, Piper was stirring in Leo's arms.

Tbc


	4. Trade Agreement

Chapter 4: Trade

Cole shimmered in somewhere nervously to find himself in Halliwell manor's attic. He didn't sigh in relief just yet, until he spotted Piper and Phoebe sitting on a step, hugging each other, "that's better anyway," he whispered.

"What?" Phoebe stood up.

"Just said hey," he lifted a hand, motioning a half hearted wave, not sure at all who and how will take his presence. He was awfully wrong before.

Piper stood up as well, gently patting him on the arm as she went out, "I'll be downstairs."

"So?" Phoebe asked, "did you find out anything about the demon?"

"The demon? Uhm, no. Sorry," he shrugged a bit, having no idea who Phoebe meant. Maybe it was best if he just left her alone for a while until he figured out which year he landed himself into. He turned towards the door.

"No, Cole, wait. We should talk."

"Alright," Cole murmured.

"It's just hard…let me ask you a question," Phoebe stood right next to him, "when you, you know, proposed… did you mean to? Or did it just come out in the heat of the moment?"

"Wow! It worked."

"What worked? Confusing me with your proposal? That worked?"

"Listen Phoebe, I understand I shocked you with it. I know it was crazy to ask, and I know it doesn't make any sense because of who we are but that shouldn't matter. If it did we never would have fallen in love in the first place. I love you, Phoebe, and I don't know that wherever we go from here, I want it to be with you. But I'll wait until you're ready. All it matters that we are together, married or not."

"Really? You're not upset?"

"It's not as if you're using voodoo dolls on me…"

Phoebe put her hands on her hips. That man was still taking so demon like sometimes she couldn't understand him, "is that a baby crying?"

"You go see about that Phoebe, I need to talk to Cole," Leo orbed in.

"I dunno what happened!" Leo walked up to him, "what did you do?"

"What did I do? Uhm, with my knowledge, nothing. What do you mean?"

"Elders up there changed their minds about you. Or at least, they've become very interested in your choices if you had one. I guess it's because the charmed ones are so important for the existence of the whole world and they would like some certainty as far as the people protecting them are concerned. They also said you undoubtedly choose good over Phoebe. I hope you'll fill me in when such thing occurred and how is it so positive they come up with this. Cole, they want to know right away if you wanna trade your evil based shimmering and fire balls to orbing and sparkle balls."

"Sparkle balls?"

"You know how itchy orbs are to touch for demons. I take care not to have any skin contact with you, in case it bothers you. Basically, these sparkle balls, released at demons, would drive them immediately insane with a burning itch. Depending on the intensity of the sparkles, they could be vanquished with it too. And with that, you would be as powerful as Belthazor, but he wouldn't exist in you. What do you say?"

"What do I say? I think Phoebe will be thrilled."

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Paige sliced a piece of flesh off Sikes' frozen arm. It dropped onto the floor and she picked it up, "got it."

Sikes unfroze and hit Paige, Phoebe went over to her to see if she was okay. Sikes threw an energy ball, but Leo and Cole orbed into the middle of the action, freshly

back from the Elders, pushing Piper and Emma out of the way. The energy ball hit the baby imitation on the table. Cole held out both hands, the space between them filling up with a sparkling globe, that he threw at the demon.

Sikes started scratching his chest crazily, where the ball hit him and continued with jumping from one leg to the other as the orbs spread all over him. Then, he exploded.

"That was good," Piper stood up, "but how did you do that?"

"You're not gonna like this Piper, but I can explain in detail how this situation is different from ours," Leo answered.

"Just tell us already!" Phoebe went over to Cole, looking at him curiously.

"It's a form of approval from the elders for Cole and Phoebe's relationship. They transformed his powers into blessed ones…" Leo peeped at Piper.

"I'm not saying you don't deserve it, but why didn't we?" Piper raised her hand and blown the vase with the flowers up, covering everybody is yellow petals.

"How about we scramble out of harm's way?" Cole whispered to Phoebe.

Phoebe put her hands around his waste and smiled up mischievously. They were in her room, "here? I thought you gonna orb me to Las Vegas immediately to get married."

"I can't. I don't have your answer yet."

"What do you think my answer will be now that many potential difficulties have been swiped out the way? It was so unfair on Piper though, from the Elders. But then again, they are like that, aren't they?"

"Believe me, they must had a good reason to act why they did."

"Not all that nice from me, but I ultimately don't care, as long as we are allowed to be together."

"Las Vegas then?"

"Las Vegas it is."

The End.


End file.
